Do animals have an opinion about God? They say that Chimpanzees, dolphins, crows, elephants, and many other intelligent animals think, reason, plan ahead and have self-awareness and emotions just like humans.
Do animals believe there is a God or do they not question their own existence?
If not, why are they exempt?
There is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that animals have an opinion. Just look at my cat's behaviour when she wants something and is being denied it. As for deity, my dog believes I'm god or some such being when I give him treats ; )
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteTint - Great answer... YOU are God. And Yes I agree, they have opinions, and make choices based on their opinions.
Yes they do.
ReplyDeleteShort version: had a dog that needed to be put to sleep, didn't want to do it, she made it clear in multiple ways if I'd get over myself and think of her needs rather than my loss. Good lesson.
ReplyDeletewulf - I had the same thing...had to put a dog to sleep, she looked so scared. Somehow they seem to know these things and express their feelings.
My cat doesn't believe in a god (as far as I can tell). Like most blokes he thinks more of his stomach and he is particularly fond of chicken flavoured cat food.
ReplyDeleteAnimals don't really need a God because they don't need to be redeemed. They are innocent and do not have the ability to question their existence. They exist for our pleasure and they will be in heaven just like the little innocent children.
ReplyDeletegr8 comment *barb4sun* my thought is "Yes, they do."
ReplyDeleteI agree with Barb,,that animals dont need a God as they are here for our purpose and enjoyment however sometimes we need redemption of invading the capabilities of the animal to Have an opinion.....do they have feelings? Yes but once again ignored by a lot of humans,,,but animals accept their fate and do not feel sorry for themselves..and of course sometimes humans try to make an animal human but in the end they are only animals and not on the same level as humans.....moral ..love your pets but let them be what they are..pets.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting question. My interest in it is that at one time the same question was posed about women. And some of the response is much like what is said of the animal, that women are here to serve man. It was also made clear to indidgenous and the people of the black society. Some speculate that when we find life 'out there' in the universe, it will be lower intelligence. It's not an overstatement that sometimes it's just that we can't get over ourselves, as was mentioned above in a comment. I don't think we understand some things that animals understand. Just because they can't all use a tweezers(so to speak), we aren't given the opportunities to witness our ways of measuring intelligence and opinion.
ReplyDeleteMy son had a baby six months ago. (no he didnt give birth but he woulda if he coulda). While he was out of the house one day, his little dog dragged baby jammies out into the living room, dragged some cat litter findings to place on top of it, and then topped it off with a little pile of his own. He had an opinion.
Now for the short response.........*^*
ReplyDeleteiriani - Whew, I'm glad your cat is on the other side of the world.
ReplyDeleteBarb -
Petunia*2 -
Equine -
(more questions) - If animals do have feelings and emotion, why are animals different? They are just little people with feelings and emotion just like us. How do we know they don't question their own existence? Maybe us humans just don't understand their superior thinking? Maybe because we humans are here we cause our other earthly inhabitants pain. suffering and extinction?(road kill, pollution, housing developments, etc).
......Some animals (cats) think we're here for THEIR existence. Why do we think we're more important than animals?... also, they don't need us at all for anything, in fact we humans do them more harm than good. Some animals kill (humans) for no reason, are those animals not going to heaven? Perhaps animals are much smarter than humans after all?and will be here long after mankind is extinct? Humans do some dumb things and have some dumb myths and beliefs, animals are pure.
? Nothing but questions... , do we know?
Lover - Good point. At one time the same was thought about women by some, so why do we assume the same thing about animals?
.... What about "life" elsewhere in the universe? Same God? Different God? No God? Does "no God" mean you're an animal? What about Atheists?are they animals? We're ALL animals, are humans special animals?. Lower intelligence maybe doesn't' need a God? Or perhaps higher intelligence doesn't need a God either and the animals are right?
....Funny story about your sons dog. That dog exhibited some very high intelligence but I question his judgement. Perhaps with such high intelligence that dog believes in God?
Animals definitely have opinions...and some can be quite voiciferous about it. Do they believe in God? Only God and the animals know...and neither seems to be interested in sharing that particular Truth with us at the moment. Perhaps they figure it is one of our business?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteBamBam - I think you nailed the cat on the head... none of our business. (same with humans).
(I like that word..... voiciferous...now added to my brain index file).
Wow... what a fantastic question. While it's apparent that animals have opinions and do experience jealousy (there is scientific proof of this), I would surmise that they do NOT have the capability of believing in a higher power or anything of that nature. However, instinctively animals tend to understand more than we humans. So who knows?
ReplyDeleteGreat food for thought Bert!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3659416/Dogs-can-be-jealous-say-scientists.html
I thought long & hard about this.. so many different ways of looking at the Question!
ReplyDeleteAll animals, including Humans are driven by basic instinct.. food, shelter,sex. Then comes Nature versus Nurture & Genetics of whatever the species may be.
There is No question that all animals respond to positive or negative reinforcement with the appropriate responses of Love, Hate, Fear, Jealousy.. etc. Oh, They Dream Too!
Depending on the Animal, there is an understanding of a Higher Power... the Leader of the Pack, so to speak. God? Not so much!
Human's Rationalize that God was created in our own image! Maybe given the fact we are the primary provider for many domesticated animals, they might find our presence as the Omni One!
Never an Easy Answer, very complex Bert/Ace!
Swag - Thanks for the link... it supports exactly what I've always thought. Animals are just a variation of humans or visa versa, a continuum. Perhaps animals don't need to believe in a higher power since it appears they "go to heaven" ( or go nowhere) no matter what good or evil they may do. Why aren't humans given the same privilege since we're animals too? Maybe the whole issue is a moot point?
ReplyDeleteDuchamp - I don't think animals are any different than humans... just not as capable of thinking. That makes me wonder if the existence or non-existence of God makes any difference to an animal. If it doesn't matter to animals, why does it matter to humans?We're animals too. I don't believe humans are anything "special". Perhaps it's because humans are capable of believing in such things and animals aren't capable?
I don't believe in God, neither do my cats (they take after me). As far as wild animals go I think they believe that whoever is the strongest, fastest, and most feared is like a god.
ReplyDeleteI know animals reason, it's just that we humans don't reason in the same way so it's usually hard for us to figure out what motivates them. Animals use senses that we don't have the ability to use, they're very good at sensing what a human is thinking or feeling and their sense of hearing, site and smell are remarkable. So they have a lot of advantages over us.
BTW, I have a cat that can open and shut doors, another that can say "Mom", "Bug" and "Mine". When my cats are hungry they come find me and drive me nuts until I feed them. They're very smart. But what I can't figure out is... why do they always put their toys in their water bowl? (Do they think they're drowning the catnip mouse?)
HA! You haven't met my cats, they usually have a whole lot of explaining to do when I get home!
ReplyDeleterecon - I can't imagine that an animal cares about the existence of God. Their life is the same either way. Actually, it appears that's true for humans too, or at least for many.
ReplyDeleteI agree, animals have senses that we don't have.. or to put another way each species is smarter than us as far as their own need for knowledge and survival. Chickens for instance are brilliant at being Chickens..squirrels are brilliant at being squirrels, etc.. each is smarter than humans at being what they are. They know exactly what they need to know, no more no less.
.....I agree, I've had animals that could have benefited from being "redeemed".
Bert* good question :-) absolutely & no doubt animals r pure. we did harm the animals. they don't ask anything from us but humans want a lot & more including their lives. what does it mean 2 b an animal? what does it mean 2 b a human?
ReplyDeleteI think they have opinions, but I think they accept. Not that I know, especially given my recent blog, haha!
ReplyDeleteGood question though. =)